1. England & France The Victorian Era

2. Essential Question: How “democratic” did Britain & France become by the beginning of the 20 c ?

3. The Third French Republic: The Paris Commune

4. Third French Republic Declared  September, 1870 after France’s defeat at the Battle of Sedan.  Napoleon III abdicated the throne.  New government headed by Adolphe Thiers.  This new government continued the fight against the Germans who laid siege to Paris.  To defend Paris, a National Guard was raised numbering over 350,000.  France surrendered in February, 1871 after 40,000 Parisians died.

5. The Third French Republic  Thiers’ government was seen as:  Too conservative.  Too royalist.  Too ready to accept a humiliating peace with Prussia.  Prussian troops marched into Paris in March, 1871.  The French government established itself at Versailles, NOT in Paris.  Parisians were angered by this.  They opposed the policies of this new government.  It attempted to restore order in Paris.

6. Paris in Revolt!...Again  The Paris Commune [Communards] was elected on March 28 and established itself at the Hôtel de Ville.

7. Civil War…Again Communards Troops from Versailles  The Commune was suppressed by government troops led by Marshal Patrice MacMahon during the last week of May, 1871.  Known as the “Bloody Week.”

8. The Communards

9. Paris City Hall Destroyed

10. Attempted Communard Reforms * Allowed trade unions & workers cooperatives to take over factories not in use and start them up again. * Set up unemployment exchanges in town halls. * Provide basic elementary education for all  they were strongly against church-controlled schools. * Attempted to set up girls schools. * Day nurseries near factories for working mothers. Too little time to accomplish much

11. First Communist Revolution? It served as an inspiration to later revolutionaries like Lenin. * 25,000 Communards killed. * 35,000 were arrested.

12. Communard Casualties

13. The Third French Republic: Government Structure

14. Declaring the 3 rd French Republic

15. An Overview of the 3 rd French Republic  Politically very unstable.  Rivalry between monarchists and republicans.  A number of scandals:  The Boulanger Affair.  The Panama Canal Scandal.  The Dreyfus Affair [L’Affaire]  Because there were so many factions, all governments were coalitions.  Still, it survived longer than any other regime since 1789

16. The Constitution * The President:  Head of state  little political power.  Right to dissolve the Chamber of Deputies with the support of the Senate.  Right to nominate the new head of government.  Played an important role in foreign affairs. * The Senate:  Elected by mayors & councillors in the counties throughout France.  Nicknamed the “Chamber of Agriculture” because the countryside was over represented.

17. The Constitution * The Senate:  Senators elected every nine years.  Very conservative body  able to block progressive legislation. * The Chamber of Deputies:  Chosen every four years.  600 members elected by universal male suffrage.  There was no organized party system.  Major political groupings in the Chamber:  Socialists  many were Marxists.  Moderate Republicans  middle class.  Radicals  anti-clerical.  Monarchists  Catholics, Bonapartists, etc.

18. The Third French Republic: Scandals

19. 1. The Boulanger Affair * Bonapartism without a Bonaparte. * Most of the army was dominated by monarchists. * BUT, the Minister of War, General Georges Boulanger, was a republican.

20. 1. The Boulanger Affair * Very popular with the troops  the government was suspicious and removed him in 1887.

21. 1. The Boulanger Affair * Now a national figure, he was the focal point of conservative opposition to the republican government.  Was part of a plot to overthrow the Republic.  Was summoned to trial, but he fled to Belgium where he committed suicide on the grave of his mistress. * Boulanger’s fall increased public confidence in the Republic.

22. 2. The Panama Canal Scandal : Ferdinand de Lesseps * President of the French Company that worked on the Panama Canal.  Govt. officials took bribes from the company to withhold news from the public that it was in serious economic debt.  One billion francs affecting 800,000 investors.

23. 2. The Panama Canal Scandal : Ferdinand de Lesseps * All but one of the accused went unpunished due to lack of evidence. * Anti-Semitism:  Two German Jews were also involved  they received the most press coverage. * Results:  The scandal proved to the public that the Republic was corrupt.  It created a climate of anti-Semitism that would increase in time.

24. 3. The Dreyfus Affair * In 1894 a list of French military documents [called a bordereau] were found in the waste basket of the German Embassy in Paris. * French counter-intelligence suspected Captain Alfred Dreyfus, from a wealthy Alsatian Jewish family  he was one of the few Jews on the General Staff.

25. 3. The Dreyfus Affair * Dreyfus was tried, convicted of treason, and sent to Devil’s Island in French Guiana. * The real culprit was a Major Esterhazy, whose handwriting was the same as that on the bordereau.  The government tried him and found him not guilty in two days.

26. Devils Island

27. 3. The Dreyfus Affair * A famous author, Emile Zola, published an open letter called J’Accuse!  He accused the army of a mistrial and cover-up.  The government prosecuted him for libel.  Found him guilty  sentenced to a year in prison.

28. J’Accuse!

29. 3. The Dreyfus Affair Dreyfusards Anti- Dreyfusards * Public opinion was divided  it reflected the divisions in Fr. society. * The Dreyfusards were anti-clericals, intellectuals, free masons, & socialists. * For Anti-Dreyfusards, the honor of the army was more important than Dreyfus’ guilt or innocence.  Were army supporters, monarchists, & Catholics.

30. Dreyfus, the Traitor!

31. 3. The Dreyfus Affair * Dreyfus finally got a new trial in 1899. * He was brought back from Devil’s Island white-haired and broken. * Results:  Found guilty again, BUT with extenuating circumstances.  Was given a presidential pardon.  Exonerated completely in 1906.  Served honorably in World War I.  Died in 1935.

32. The Zionist Movement Theodore Herzl [1860-1904] * Was motivated by the Dreyfus trial to write the book, Der Judenstaat, or The Jewish State in 1896. * Creates the First Zionist Congress in Basel, Switzerland. * “Father of Modern Zionism.” * Was motivated by the Dreyfus trial to write the book, Der Judenstaat, or The Jewish State in 1896. * Creates the First Zionist Congress in Basel, Switzerland. * “Father of Modern Zionism.”

33. Protocols of the Elders of Zion

34. New Wave of Anti-Catholicism * The anti-clerical, republican left took power in the National Assembly in 1879.  This anti-Catholicism was a remnant of the French Revolution.  They stayed in power until 1914. * Ferry Laws [1879-1885]:  Named after Jules Ferry, one of the ablest politicians of the 3 rd Republic.  Were the first major attempt at educational reform.

35. Ferry Laws * Only the State could grant degrees. * Free education in public primary schools. * Religious instruction was excluded from the State school curriculum. * Unauthorized religious orders [Marists, Dominicans, and Jesuits, who were eventually expelled from France] were forbidden to teach. * Authorized Catholic orders could NOT teach in French public schools. * State improved training of teachers. They created a deep division between Church and State

36. The Third French Republic: Foreign Policy

37. Aims of French Foreign Policy 1. To regain the provinces of Alsace & Lorraine lost to Germany in 1871. 2. To end her isolation in international affairs after the Franco-Prussian War. 3. To expand her colonial empire and regain some of her prestige lost after the Franco-Prussian War.

38. A National Trauma: France’s Loss of Alsace-Lorraine

39. French Colonial Empire * The empire set up under the 3 rd Republic was the greatest France had ever possessed. * Jules Ferry played a huge role in French empire building. * Ironically, two-thirds of the missionary priests outside Europe were French * By 1914, France was the second largest colonial power in the world and the largest in Africa.

40. France’s Colonial Empire

41. 1889 Paris Exposition * World’s Fair held in honor of the French Revolution Centennial. * The Eiffel Tower, completed in 1889, served as the entrance to the Fair.

42. 1889 Paris Exposition: Gallery of Machinery